1. In liturgical celebrations, in songs and prayers the name of God in the form of the tetragrammaton YHWH is neither to be used or pronounced.There is a quite remarkable economy in the letter and directives which manage to achieve a number of things all at once:
2. For the translation of the Biblical text in modern languages, destined for liturgical usage of the Church, what is already prescribed by n. 41 of the Instruction Liturgiam authenticam is to be followed; that is, the divine tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios: "Lord", "Signore", "Seigneur", "Herr", "Señor", etc.
3. In translating, in the liturgical context, texts in which are present, one after the other, either the Hebrew term Adonai or the tetragrammaton YHWH, Adonai is to be translated "Lord" and the form God" is to be used for the tetragrammaton YHWH, similar to what happens in the Greek translation of the Septuagint and in the Latin translation of the Vulgate.
- There is an important note on New Testament Christology pointing out that the attribution of the title "Lord" to Christ is a proclamation of His divinity.
- We are reminded again of the principles set out in Liturgiam Authenticam.
- A quite needless offence to Jewish sensibilities is removed.
- A number of execrable hymns are ruled out at a stroke.
On a lighter note, I remember from my days at the English College that we sometimes had to sing a ditty that went like this:
I will celebrate Your love forever, ****!A seminarian whom we always referred to as Marcus Druvius re-wrote this as follows:
Age on age my words proclaim Your love.
For I know your love was meant to last forever,
Founded firm Your faithfulness.
I will celebrate your Mass forever, Pius!In those days (early 1980s), I was not an enthusiast for the older form of the Mass but this was, as they say in Ireland, a fine rebel song.
Age on age shall Latin be my tongue.
For I know your Mass was meant to last forever,
Founded firm on Quo Primum.
9 comments:
Fr. Tim,
This will put the New Jerusalem Bible off-side. Its editors took the bizarre policy decision to use the divine name Y***** instead of "Lord", for reasons best known to themselves.
Were they totally oblivious to Jewish sensibilities?
Hey, I remember that song! We used to sing it in my parish in the 90's. Rather nice, I thought at the time.
That's Bishop (not Archbishop) Serratelli.
BTW Fr Basden, who is here in California, says Hi.
Thanks, Martin - it was the "Most Rev" that confused me. I suppose they don't have "Right Rev" in America. Is Fr Basden going to say the old Mass in the Taj Mahoney?
I recall Fr Drew also had an excellent version of Lord of the Dance; the verse I recall goes
I turned charismatic so the Mass lasts all day
Doctrine and dogma by the Spirit washed away
Then when it comes to the Sign of Peace
We all kiss and cuddle seeking spiritual release
As Rorate Caeli blog put it:
"Another problem the Traditional Roman rite never had..."
Would that affect hymns like the old Welsh favorite "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehova" or, for that matter, the latin anthem "Jehova Quam Multi Sunt?"
Yes, it applies to those too. In most hymn books, the opening line is "Guide me O Thou great redeemer".
"Jehovah quam multi sunt" is a pity but it is clear that we should not be singing the sacred tetragrammaton.
Of course substituting the word Redeemer specifically addresses the hymn to the second person of the Trinity but I doubt that's a problem except that people are rightly getting tired of hymns being changed to more politically correct versions and are thus, I suspect, a bit sensitive about the matter.
Please allow me to say how much I apporeciate your quick replies, Father.
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